Any V6 motor improvements?

[AllanD]

How about swapping out a 3.0 for a 4.0? Is that a pretty straightforward swap?
I have a 3.0 Vulcan, rear wheel drive, auto tranny.

Unlike the 2.8/2.9/4/0 which are all "Cologne" engines produced
by Ford of Germany, the "Vulcan" engine doesn't share the bellhousing pattern, so to convert TO or FROM a 3.0 requires the transmission
to be swapped as well as the engine.

what interchangeability there is between the 2.8. 2.9 and the 4.0
is simply amazing... it goes under appreciated.

but what makes things really easy is when you discover that the Y-pipe from one will physically bolt to the others...
that they all have the same bolt pattern, that the engine is internally balanced and that allows the flywheel from the later engines to be used
on the older ones.

AD

 

[barrys]

Are the 3.8 and the 4.0 the same? I guess I should have been more specific...
If I were to drop in a rebuild some day can I just get a rebuilt 4.0 motor designed for the Ranger and have it go in as a "bolt on" replacement? I've never installed a new motor (or had one installed) in my life. My guess is the gas mileage of a newly rebuilt 4.0 should be on par with the 3.0 Vulcan I've got in there. But, I'm not sure. I get a very consistent 20mpg with mixed driving with the motor I've got and its auto tranny. Not sure what to expect with the 4.0 except that a friend at work with a Ranger and the 4.0 loves his motor and says he can keep up with a BMW M3 (which I kinda doubt).

The motor that's in there seems fine. Some of my smog check numbers are getting up there -- 75% of limits and the main seal seems to be starting a small leak. So, I'm guessing I'll be ponying up for a new motor someday.

I love my truckster like you can't imagine. If it needed a new motor, I'd just ask how much and schedule it with my INDY Ford mechanic who I'd basically trust with my children.

Wait until I do that and I'll be blamming you all with posts with tons of dumb ass questions....

On the other hand, who knows what the future holds for the little golden Ranger. I might want to opt to rebuild what I've got to keep original motor. Also, it's got plenty of power for me so extra power would be nice-to-have but by no means a necessity.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

Are the 3.8 and the 4.0 the same? I guess I should have been more specific...
If I were to drop in a rebuild some day can I just get a rebuilt 4.0 motor designed for the Ranger and have it go in as a "bolt on" replacement? I've never installed a new motor (or had one installed) in my life. My guess is the gas mileage of a newly rebuilt 4.0 should be on par with the 3.0 Vulcan I've got in there. But, I'm not sure. I get a very consistent 20mpg with mixed driving with the motor I've got and its auto tranny. Not sure what to expect with the 4.0 except that a friend at work with a Ranger and the 4.0 loves his motor and says he can keep up with a BMW M3 (which I kinda doubt).

The motor that's in there seems fine. Some of my smog check numbers are getting up there -- 75% of limits and the main seal seems to be starting a small leak. So, I'm guessing I'll be ponying up for a new motor someday.

I love my truckster like you can't imagine. If it needed a new motor, I'd just ask how much and schedule it with my INDY Ford mechanic who I'd basically trust with my children.

Wait until I do that and I'll be blamming you all with posts with tons of dumb ass questions....

On the other hand, who knows what the future holds for the little golden Ranger. I might want to opt to rebuild what I've got to keep original motor. Also, it's got plenty of power for me so extra power would be nice-to-have but by no means a necessity.

The 3.8L and 4.0L are not the same at all...

 

[barrys]

I wasn't clear. I was just wondering about what a 3.8 was since I'd never heard of that.
Specifically, I'm curious if a 4.0 Ranger motor would be a bolt on replacement/install for a 3.0 Vulcan V6.

The Vulcan sure does have a good reputation and a wide user base. Just curious.

 

[Beanmachine7000]

The 3.8L is Ford's "Essex" motor, a stroked version is used in the F-150 (4.2L)... It was the base engine for the mustang... It and the 4.0L have nothing in common... It is supposedly a Windsor motor with 2 cylinders chopped off... A 4.0L will not be a bolt in swap on a 3.0L truck being that a new tranny would be needed...

 

[Louisville86]

The 4.0 is "Cologne" to this day (actually "Köln," sort of pronounced "cuuul-n"). I was looking at a 2010 Mustang V-6 and it said "Germany" under country of origin for the engine (same for the Explorer, SportTrac and Ranger).

That Mustang I keep looking at is a pretty sharp car, actually, in metallic red with zero options. I think you could pick this one up for less than $20K out the door.

 

[HndMeDnBroncoII]

mileage i have 350,000kms on my 88 bronco ii with a 2.9 a4ld(with tranny cooler(factory) no rebuilds just maintenance.btw does anyone know the conversion for kms to miles.

 

[graff104]

350,000km=217,479.92miles

 

[barrys]

Google's got a pretty good setup for the conversions. Just type this into a google.com search:
350,000km in miles
And you get this cool page:
http://www.google.com/search?source...&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_en&q=350,000km+in+miles

 

[holyford86]

I wasn't clear. I was just wondering about what a 3.8 was since I'd never heard of that.
Specifically, I'm curious if a 4.0 Ranger motor would be a bolt on replacement/install for a 3.0 Vulcan V6.

The Vulcan sure does have a good reputation and a wide user base. Just curious.

no, it isn't a bolt in replacement, the closest thing to a 3.0 is a front drive 3.8 and even then I think that there are quite a few differences.

 

[HndMeDnBroncoII]

ha ha ha thanks it never occured to look there believe it or not

 

[4X4Rangerman]

This is no relevance to this post. I was wondering though how much headers would help my 2001 v6 3.0l ford ranger. and if a stroker kit would help on it

 

[Big Jim M]

Not much at all! For the same money or less you could change rear diff gears and have the power you are looking for.
Big JIm

 

[jaymegriffiths]

mileage i have 350,000kms on my 88 bronco ii with a 2.9 a4ld(with tranny cooler(factory) no rebuilds just maintenance.btw does anyone know the conversion for kms to miles.

1mile=1.6kms.

 

[jaymegriffiths]

Not much at all! For the same money or less you could change rear diff gears and have the power you are looking for.
Big JIm

and none of the milage